Stefan is assistant professor of history at the Higher School of Economics in Saint Petersburg, Russian Federation. He is a researcher of communism and is currently working on a monograph on the Balkan communist parties in the interwar period. Aside from the history of communism, he is passionate about architecture and the avant-garde art of the 1920s. Stefan previously completed his PhD at the University of Regensburg, his MA at Central European University, Budapest, and his BA at the Anglo-American University in Prague. He is the author of Before Tito, a book on Yugoslav communism in the time of Stalin’s Great Purge.
Areas of Expertise
The Four Yugoslavias: 200 Years of South Slavic States
From unlikely beginnings to tragic end, the attempt to create a unified state of the South Slavs in Yugoslavia was a major geopolitical factor in the Balkans.
Albanian Communism: Europe’s Last Stalinists
Albanian communism propelled Europe’s poorest country into the 20th century. It was also marked by repression, isolation, and paranoia.
When Affirmative Action Pushed Albania’s Autocrat Enver Hoxha to Power
Enver Hoxha led socialist Albania for forty-one years and its ruling party for forty-four, yet he had been brought to power virtually by accident.
Gavrilo Princip: How A Wrong Turn Sparked WWI
Gavrilo Princip entered history as the man who assassinated Archduke Franz Ferdinand thanks to a wrong turn by the Archduke’s driver, sparking World War I.
Peasant Letters to the Tsar: A Forgotten Russian Tradition
In the early 20th century, the Russian tradition of writing letters to the Tsar became a troubling signal of new and uncertain times.
What Happened When a Gay Communist Wrote to Stalin
In 1934, Joseph Stalin received a letter from Harry Whyte asking: “can a homosexual be considered someone worthy of membership in the Communist Party?”